Evil spirits hierarchy
Evil spirits operate in an organized hierarchy of powers against believers
There are many different kinds of evil spirits. I have listed them below:
1. Foul spirits, also known as unclean spirits
Unclean spirits afflict the mind and the soul of man. They are responsible for unclean thoughts, immoral acts, depression, oppression, and possession. When Satan controls individuals with unclean spirits, he can also operate in all spheres where those individuals are active.
“And when He had called to Him His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Mat 10:1 MKJV)
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finds none.” (Mat 12:43 MKJV)
“And in their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, What is to us and to You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know You, who You are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet, and come out of him. And the unclean spirit, convulsing him, and crying with a loud voice, he came out of him. They all were amazed, so as to question among themselves, saying, What is this? What new doctrine is this? For He even commands the unclean spirits with authority, and they obey Him.” (Mar 1:23-27 MKJV)
2. Lying spirits
“And now, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning you.” (1Ki 22:23 MKJV)
3. Evil spirits of deception
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved.” (2Th 2:8-10 MKJV)
These evil spirits work miracles, which lead some to believe they are of God.
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty.” (Rev 16:13-14 MKJV)
4. Deaf-and-dumb evil spirits
“And seeing that a crowd is running together, Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter no more into him!” (Mar 9:25 MKJV)
5. Evil spirits of infirmity
These evil spirits afflict the physical body.
“And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together and was not able to be completely erect.” (Luk 13:11 MKJV)
“Then one who had been demon-possessed was brought to Him, blind and dumb. And He healed him, so much so that the blind and dumb one both spoke and saw.” (Mat 12:22 MKJV)
“and by the surpassing revelations, lest I be made haughty, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be made haughty.” (2Co 12:7 MKJV)
6. Evil spirits of oppression
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good, and healing all those who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him.” (Act 10:38 MKJV)
7. Evil spirits of seduction
Seducing spirits afflict the mind, soul, and spirit of man, influencing him to believe false doctrines. They are spirits of false doctrine, cults, false Christs, and false teachers. These spirits induce people to believe lies and be damned to eternal punishment.
“But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons,” (1Ti 4:1 MKJV)
Evil seducing spirits sear the conscience; they seduce, entice, tempt, allure, excite, attract, and arouse. Satan craves worship, and he will take it any way he can get it. Seducing spirits entice men and women to worship idols and even Satan himself.
8. Evil spirits of divination (also called familiar spirits)
“And as we went to prayer, it happened that a certain girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by divining.” (Act 16:16 MKJV)
Spirits of divination operate in fortune tellers, witches, palm-, crystal ball-, and tea leaf readers. Through these unscriptural methods, the spirits of divination foretell the future or reveal knowledge that can’t be known naturally.
God specifically warns us against spirits of divination.
“Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 19:31 GNB)
“If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people.” (Lev 20:6 GNB)
“Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death.” (Lev 20:27 GNB)
The hierarchy of evil spirits.
The following two verses explain more about the spiritual hierarchy of evil spirits.
“For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: All things were created by Him, and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16)
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”(Ephesians 6:12)
From the previous verses, we can derive a 6-level hierarchy of evil spirits.
Evil spirits are mostly restricted to specific spheres of influence, in which these spirits would juggle for a position from which they could control or influence the person with the most power. Spheres of influence can be financial, political, cultural, religious, and legal, to name a few. The hierarchy below is not an exact science but serves as a rough guide to the influence that each group of evil spirits has.
1. Thrones – the top-level of evil spirits, the Kingpins.
These evil spirits are the elohim (gods) that form God’s council. They were appointed by God to rule the gentile nations, whereas God took it upon himself to rule Israel. The elohim were worshipped by the gentile nations as gods beside God Almighty himself. Some of their names are mentioned in the Bible, such as Baal, Marduk, Molech, Astarte and Dagon. (Does “the spirit of Africa” ring a bell?”) There were 70 thrones originally, including the good spirits and the evil spirits. Thrones operate on a global scale.
“The Most High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being, but Jacob’s descendants he chose for himself.” (Deu 32:8-9 GNB)
Satan himself is also reckoned under the elohim.
They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. [2Co 4:4 GNB]
2. Dominions.
Dominions are evil spirits ruling smaller countries, counties, provinces, or states. A dominion probably has jurisdiction over about 10 million people.
3. Principalities.
Principalities are the evil spirits ruling large cities or small countries. A principality probably has jurisdiction over about 1 million people. They infiltrate municipal governments and influence legislation on that level. Daniel 10 mentions the prince of Persia as one example of a principality.
“The angel said to me, “Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you.” When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling. Then he said, “Daniel, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer. The angel prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me, because I had been left there alone in Persia.” (Dan 10:11-13 GNB)
4. Powers.
The powers are the evil spirits ruling towns or suburbs, probably having jurisdiction over about a hundred thousand people.
5. Rulers of the darkness of this world.
The rulers of darkness are evil spirits ruling smaller areas of control, such as small businesses, school boards, and church councils. Others would be involved in the local organised crimes.
6. Spiritual wickedness in high places.
In the Old Testament, high places were the places where worship was carried out. These are the evil spirits targeting ordinary people with the aim of tormenting or possessing them.
Although evil spirits and spirits of spirit are real, they pose no threat to us if we are in Christ!